Who needs ‘social worker’ librarians? Just ‘type into the search box’? Something for the DPLA to consider June 13 in the P controversy?

I’ve warned the Digital “Public” Library of America, the Harvard-hosted project that has claimed so much space in the New York Times and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Please help public librarians set up their own national digital library system, and please drop the “P” from “DPLA” since the organization is a long way from a true public library (here, here, here, and here).

Otherwise, powerful university academics will set the tone at the expense of such public library patrons as K-12 students, recreational readers, and people with medical or financial crises or others. Not one school librarian or other K-12 educator sits on the DPLA’s 17-member steering committee, which includes only three local librarians, none working in small towns. We actually need much closer ties between campuses and public libraries (including easier dissemination of open content from universities). But upper-level academics can be exceedingly tone-deaf about the needs of the untenured, the reason why public and K-12 librarians should control their own destinies. Let the academics establish a separate system focused on campus needs, one that could still share technical resources and content and otherwise bolster the publib digital system and local libraries directly.

Alas, the possibility of too much focus on high-ed, at the expense of other groups, isn’t the only threat if public librarians don’t stand up for their patrons’ interests and their own and tell the DPLA to drop the P when the issue comes up on Monday at the organization’s steering committee meeting in Washington (apparently closed to the public). Imagine how the existence of a so-called “Pubic” library online could be used by enemies of public and school libraries; they are already positioning Amazon and Google as library substitutes, even without “Public” in the names. Here is a gem from an anti-tax techie on the DPLA email list who thinks librarians spend too much time on social-worker-type interaction with patrons: “If you type into a search dialog box: ‘ABC’ .. and you get what you are looking for .. why would you need a ‘wasteful social worker’ in the first place? If you need a ‘wasteful social worker’ .. maybe it’s time for you to go to ‘social services’ ..”

The adjective “wasteful” was what I had used earlier in deepest sarcasm mode. But here’s the real point: Libraries are different from most other government agencies; the knowledge they spread is empowering: library patrons aren’t just passively sitting back. You can research your medical condition or other challenge and have a “social worker” help with questions you might not have dreamed of asking. If you don’t know what to type into the box, you might even miss out on life-saving facts. With a librarian to assist you, you’re more likely to find out about all the options. No bureaucrat is saying, “Do this! It’s your only choice.” The poor, as well as first-generation Americans with less than full mastery of English, can benefit especially from in-person help. Same for schoolchildren whose teachers lack the time to bring them up to speed on research techniques.

Americans urgently need home access to a wealth of e-books, databases and other goodies since many people cannot conveniently visit neighborhood libraries in person, and I love the idea of a national reference service available by phone and the Web, but let’s not do away with the warm, fuzzy, in-person kind of reference help—a danger that will grow if the DPLA insists on branding itself as a “Public” Library despite the risk of library enemies using this as ammunition. In fact, as I now see it, even if public librarians establish their own national system, they should avoid the P word in its name in order to keep the spotlight on local public libraries.

David Rothman { Thanks, Todd. A few points: 1. Portals rich in metadata---not just full-fledged archives---can be useful. Of course, I wish the DPLA interface were better so... } – May 06, 1:04 PM

Todd { I'm confused by your call to support the DPLA with an endowment. If the DPLA is to become a real public library it needs to... } – May 06, 12:33 PM

David Rothman { Thanks for caring about this important issue, Robert. iBooks' TTS isn't as slick as it could be, nor is the TTS as used on the... } – Jan 03, 9:20 PM

Robert Nagle { The fact that the low powered earlier Kindle 3 model could implement a reasonably functional version of text-to-speech suggests that the technological challenges of doing... } – Jan 03, 9:09 PM

David Rothman { Hi, Troy--I very much appreciated your note. No, not much is available in Alexandria in terms of general bookstores, perhaps partly because rents around here... } – Oct 21, 2:15 PM

Troy Johnson { I wish I read this aticle before compiling my list of best cities for readers of African American literature. Part of my motivation for publishing... } – Oct 21, 1:21 PM

David Rothman { Thanks for your comments, Jen. Actually we agree in many if not most ways. I certainly want librarians to be able to go outside to... } – Oct 15, 12:39 PM

Jen { Sadly, I don't share your optimism about the ability of libraries to manage the security of their own applications. Libraries have good intentions when it... } – Oct 15, 12:12 PM

Diane Romm { We did that once before. It was called a subscription library, and it's what existed before the rise of free public libraries. What did it... } – Jul 22, 9:51 AM

David Rothman { Thanks for your opinions, L.O. A lot of sensible people share our feelings about the greater value that a different approach could add. Here are a... } – Jul 05, 12:25 PM

Library Observer { I admittedly have no knowledge of the internal dollars and cents workings of Overdrive -- but it does touch on topics that I have always... } – Jul 05, 11:45 AM

David Rothman { Hi, Mike. I really appreciate your suggestions, but Testbag, almost surely one of the offenders, is not even on the app menu within Settings. And... } – May 16, 8:14 PM

Mike { Just go in settings, application and disable (if you cannot uninstall) the apps (like ubiinfo) that bugs you with ads. Avast antivirus for Android will tell you... } – May 16, 1:54 PM